Transparent container



1940 L. D. HOKERK 2, 8

TRANSPARENT CONTAINER Filed Sept. 27, 1937 Iyde D HoKerK Ptented Feb. 13, 1940 UNITED TRANSP ARENT CONTAINER Lynde D. Hokerk, Utica, N. Y., assignor to Keri:

Guild, Inc., Whitesbo New York ro, N. Y., a co'poratio of Application September 27, 1937, Serial No. 165,967

2 Claims. (Ci. 229-35) container" of' this character of strong and durable construction adapted to be easily and cheaply manuactured without the use of expensive dies and forms for producng various shapes and sizes of containers of all characters such as boxes, cartons', covers, tubes and other receptacles of any desired character. e 4

A further object of the invention is to provide a receptacle which will 'be substantially one hundred per cent clear and transparent and which may also be made in striking color designs of a semi-transparent, translucent or opaque character.

Another object of the invention is to provide a container of Celluloid or other flexible, nonmetailic, plastic material in which the sheets may be either clear or colored and the relnforcing and joining members .may be either plain, fluted or otherwise omamented and of the same color as the sheets or of contras'ting colors.

It is also an ;object of the inventi'on to provide a containe' of Celluloid or similar plastic, nonmetallic, transparent material possessing great flexibility and 'adapted to-be readily shaped to various forms and which at the joints connecting sheets of said .material will possess great stability and durability and in fact be the strongest portions of the container.

With these and other objects in View, the invention consists in the Construction and novel combinations and arrangement of parts hereinafter-fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawing and pointed out in the claims hereto appended, it being-understood that various changes in the form, proportion and details of Construction, within the scope of the claims, may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention. i

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a hat box constructed in accordance with this invention.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view on the line 2--2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a. horizontal sectional view on th line 3-3 of Fig. 1. V

Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view of a box cover illustrating another form of 'einforcing bead for the lower edge of the wall of the cover.

Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view illustrating another form of reinforcing and joining member for connecting the adjacent edges of the sheets.

Fig. 6 is a detail sectional viewillustrating another form of reinforcing and joining member.

Fig. 7 is a similar View illustrating a fluted reinforcing and joning member. v

` In the accompanying drawing in which are illustrated the preferred'embodiments of the invention I designates a hat box of circular form but boxes, containers and analogous articles may be of any other desired form and' any required size. The box I has its wall 2' consisting `of a single continuous sheet of Celluloid, Pliofilm or other fiexible, transparent material but the box or other container may be made of semi-transparent, translucent or opaque, non-metallic material of this character. The sheet forming the wall 2 is bent into circular form and has overlapped edges 3 and 4 preferably secured together by a quick drying plastic or Celluloid cement which when dry and set unites the overlapped edges and forms a solid integral structure. Any number of sheets may however be employed in the construction of the wall of a container or other article.

The bottom 5 of the box preferably consists of a single sheet of the same material as the wall 2 and is in the form of a disk. The adjacent edges 6 and 'I of the wall 2 and the bottom 3 are connected by a reinforcing and joining member 8 provided with longitudinal slots or grooves '9 and |0 which are arrangedin the planes of the lower edge S of the wall 2 and the edge 'l of the bottom 5 as clearly illustrated in Fig. 2 of the drawing. The reinforcing and joining member 8 consists of a rod of the same plastic material as the sheets forming the wall 2 and the bottom 5 and has the same coeicient of expansion. The grooves 9 and o may be formed by extruding the reinforcing and combining member from a suitable mold or they may be milled or otherwise cut in the member 8. The reinforcing combining member is characterized by great fiexibility and it may be bent or shaped into the desired form either mechanically or otherwise and the lower edge E of the wall 2 and the edge 'I of the bottom 5 may be Secured in the slots 9 and o by 'means of a quick drying, plastic or Celluloid cement or the walls of the slots 9 and o may be closed tightly upon the edges of the wall 2 and bottom 5 by pressure either with or without the application of a small amount of heat. The slots are made of the desired depth and of a width slightly in excess of the thickness of the sheets composing the wall 2 and bottom 5 and when the wall 2 and bottom 5 are connected by the reinforcing and combining member the corner or joint structure presents substantially the appearance of a solid single or one-piece structure and is the strongest portion of the box. The reinforcing and joinng member is illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 as round in crosssection but it may as hereinaiter explained be of any other desired form and may be either tubular or solid.

The wall 2 of the box is preferably reinforced at its upper edge by a bead ll of Celluloid or equivalent plastic material having the same coefl'lcient of expansion as the sheet composing the wall 2 and 'preferably half-round in cross-section to present a plane surface to the wall 2. The reinforcing bead which is preferably arranged at the inner face of the wall 2 is secured to the same by a quick drying Celluloid or other plastic cement which when dry and set unites the bead and the wall and forms substantially an integral structure at the upper edge of the wall 2. The

*reinforcing bead 2 may be of any other desired form and may be arranged in any other desired position with relation to the upper edge of the wall 2.

The box is provided with a cover |2 consisting of a wall !3, a top |4 and a reinforcing and joining member !5. The wall l3 consists of a strip or sheet of Celluloid or other transparent, plastic material bent into circular form to fit the wall of the box l and the top |4 consists of a sheet or disk of the same material. The reinforcing and joining member l5 is constructed similar to the reinforcing and joining member 8 heretofore described and consists of a rod of the same material as the wall !3 and the top M and having the same coefficient of expansion and provided with slots or grooves !6 and ll receiving the edges |8 and l9 of the wall !3 and the top Id. The slots or grooves !6 and I'I are formed in the manner heretofore described and edges |8 and !9 are secured in the slots or grooves 16 and l'l in the same manner as the adjacent edges of the wall 2" and bottom 5 are secured in the slots of the reinforcing and combining member 8 and the joint or corner structure of the cover forms practically a solid one-piece structure and is the strongest portion of the cover.

The wall !3 of the cover snugly fits the exterior of the wall 2 of the box and it is preferably reinforced at its outer face adjacent its lower edge by a half-round bead 20 constructed and arranged similar to the half-round bead ll of the wall 2 and having the same coefiicient of expansion as the wall |3 and forming substantially an integral portion of the said wall !3 when cemented thereto by the Celluloid or plastic cement which unites the bead 20 and the wall l3 and forms a unitary structure. 'The wall of the cover may be reinforced as illustrated in Fig. 4 by a bead 2| of Celluloid or other plastic material provided with a groove 22 to receive the lower edge of the wall of the cover and Secured to the same by a quick drying Celluloid or other cement. The bead 2l is half-round and presents a plane surface 23 to the wall of the box.

aaaoca The reinforcing and jolning member may be made in various forms as illustrated n Flgs. 5 to' 1, lnclusive, of the drawing. In Fig. 5 of the drawing the reinforclng and jolning member 24 is approximately rectangular in cross-section with its inner corner rounded and its outer corner siightly truncated. In Flg. 6 the reinforcing and jolning member 25 is approximately elliptical in cross-section. The reinforcing and joining member 26 illustrated in Fig. 7 of the drawing is cross-sectlonally substantially the same shape as the reinforcing and jolning member 24 illustrated in Fig. 5 but its outer faces 21 and 28 are fiuted longitudinally to present an ornamental appearance. The reinforclng and jolning member may be of any other desired shape 'and may be ornamented in any other preferred manner and the joints formed by the said member when the material is clear and transparent are substantially transparent or semi-transparent so that the box will present an appearance of being one hundred per cent transparent. Striking color designs may easily be formed by employing sheets of different colors and by making the reinforcing and jolning members either of the same color as the sheets or of a contrasting color. The reinforcing and joining member may be readily shaped mechancally or it may be bent into the required shape without mechanical means and boxes and containers of any desired size and character may be easily and cheaply manufactured without the emj ployment of expensive molds and dies and by the use of cheap wooden molds and forms and when desired may in many cases b manufactured without the use of molds or forms.

By constructing the container with the sheets and reinforcing members of the same or similar material having the same or approximately the same coefcient of expansion the joints will not be loosened or otherwise impaired by expansion and contraction of the material of which the con- 4 tainer is constructed.

What is claimed is:

1. In an article of the class described, a corner structure including sheets of flexible non-metallic plastic material disposed in planes substantially 4 perpendicular to each other, and a reinforcing and jolning member consisting substantially of a rod of approximately the same material as the sheets and having substantially* the same coeicient of expansion and integrally united with and conu necting the adjacent edges of said sheets and spacing the same from each other and presenting substantially the appearance of a solid one-piece structure and extending transversely interiorly and exteriorly of the corner structure.

2. In an article of the class described, a corner structure including sheets of fiexible non-metallic plastic material disposed in planes substantially perpendicular to each other, and a reinfqrcing and jolning member consisting substantial of a u rod of approximately the same material s the sheets and having the same coeflicient of expansion and provided with longitudinal slots receiving the adjacent edges of said sheets and connected with said sheets by a solvent cement form- 5 ing an integral structure and presenting substantially the appearance of a single-piece transparent structure, said rod extending transversely interiorly and exteriorly of the corner structure and spacing the connected sheets from each other. 7

LYNDE D'. HOKERK. 

